UPDATE – St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office Press Release – 7/19/2024 @ 1:00 p.m.: On Tuesday, July 16, 2024, the St. Mary’s County Government Department of Emergency Services contacted the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and reported suspected tampering with the security seal on a narcotics box in a local medic unit.
Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Division responded, and the investigation revealed that the seal on a medic box containing vials of fentanyl had been broken. Further investigation uncovered that the security packaging on fentanyl vials within the medic box had also been compromised. In response to these findings, detectives conducted simultaneous investigations at all county medic units. This effort led to the discovery of additional tampering incidents involving multiple narcotics boxes.
Despite the extensive scope of the investigation and the widespread evidence, detectives have identified a suspect, and charges are pending.
Questions regarding public health concerns should be directed to the Department of Emergency Services; representatives from the department will directly contact any individual whose care may have been impacted by this incident.
Residents with information about the criminal investigation are asked to contact Sergeant Kevin Meyer at [email protected] or call 301-475-4200, ext. 8091.
UPDATE 7/19/2024 @ 1:00 p.m.: The following comment is provided on behalf of Jennifer Utz, Director of the Department of Emergency Services at St. Mary’s County Government.
“Immediate actions were taken to notify law enforcement and medical authorities; and we are fully cooperating with their ongoing investigation,” said Jennifer Utz, Director of the Department of Emergency Services. “We are deeply saddened by this incident and are committed to transparency as we navigate this challenge. Ensuring the safety and well-being of our patients is our top priority. We are evaluating and updating our internal processes and will continue working closely with the State Medical Director, Jurisdictional Medical Director, and local Health Officer to address this issue and protect our community. Any individual whose care may have been impacted by this incident will be contacted by our department directly.”
Sincerely,
Jenna N. Guzman
The discovery of the tampered narcotics boxes resulted in immediate contact with local law enforcement, the jurisdictional medical director, the state medical director. Further inspections across other facilities in the county revealed similar signs of tampering, suggesting the possible involvement of a senior DES employee with high-level access to the narcotics.
Many emergency units in St. Mary’s County continue to respond to 911 calls despite the current lack of controlled substances (fentanyl, midazolam, ketamine) on their units. They are operating under these conditions until a reliable supply can be secured in the coming days as the investigation progresses.
A very similar situation took place in St. Mary’s County in 2018 after the Chief Medic at the Leonardtown Rescue Squad reported to the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office that a paramedic had noticed that the seal on one of the squad’s medical boxes had been broken and poorly repaired with glue. This box, which was kept in a secure storage area accessible only to paramedics, contained vials of Morphine, Ketamine, and Midazolam.
The investigation revealed that only one paramedic had access to the box at the time of the incident and surveillance footage from the Rescue Squad showed him entering the building through a rear door on a day he was off duty and had no official reason to be in the storage area. The footage further showed him entering his access code to enter the secure area where the medical box was stored and then leaving the building without interacting with anyone.
When questioned by Cpl. D. Reppel of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, the paramedic admitted that he had stolen the medications due to a personal struggle with substance abuse.
That paramedic was issued a criminal summons in January of 2019, charging him with theft and destruction of property, however all of those charges went away and are no longer accessible when searching court records. That same paramedic is now currently a senior DES employee.
